Wichita eagle., 1887-06-26
WAS 1T POISON
That Caused Robert Billby's Death1-Report o.
he First Days session Of the
Coroner's Jerry,

Ihe alleged poisoning case on w est Cen
trail avenue having created SO much interest,
Coroner Wingert yesterday forenoon COM
menced his investigation Deputy Donally
hustled around and soon had a jury empan-
neled. The witnesses were also summoned
and sooa appeared in court.
The prinnipal figure was, perhaps, tie
widow. She was rather tall and slender
with pale face, that while it bore the mark:
of care, showed, too, that the possessor had q
mind of her own and was very willing
to give it a free and foecible expression. She
was dressed in deep mourning. She seemed
very much excited at first and was loud ir
the protestations Of her innocence. Mr.. Hat
field appeared for her and Mr.. Jones for the
county. The other witnesses were mostly
neighbors; among whom was Merchant Po
iceman Dobson. The latter's testimony had
appeared in the paper to some extent slightly
misrepresented. He had simply said that
Mr.. Biliby had died under circumstance
more or less suspicious and the remainder OF
the interview he stated from hear
say He had no intention nor desire
The first witness examined was Mrs. j. E.
Keenan,, a lady living on West Central abou,
60 feet west of the house Of the deceased.
She knew Mr.. Biliby for about two weeks
and was slightly acquainted with his wife.
She told me yesterday morning that her hus-
band was taken suddenly i'll between and
10 o'clock, Il went and saw him; he was
lying in the west room with his head to the
door. He was suffering terribly, with
cramping in his hands, feet and stomach and
was very cold. He said nothing except
when l asked him how he was, when he said
he was suffering from cholera morbus Mrs.
Billby was there and appeared very calm
except when he died and than for short
time she screamed. She seemed to be very
positive from the first that he would die; she
said death was staring him in the face. She
said he was going to die | was in the room
about six times and every time she told me
this She borrowed some allspice of me and
gave him in the evening and said it helped
him: the next time she gave 1t to him
she said it made him worse. l do
not know if they ever had any trouble or
not. Last Wednesday (22nd, at noon man
came to my house and inquired for No. S22
Central avenue. He had an envelop with the
number on it in his hand. About an hour af
forwards, l saw him in company with Mrs.
Billby and her youngest child taking stroll;
they went east first and in about one hour
returned, passed my house and went towards
the park. | saw them return in half hour.
After they went to the park Mr.. Billby wentin
the same direction. They all returned to-
gether. Mr. Billby leading the lit
tie girl, Mrs. Billby and the strange man in
advance, he holding over her parasol.
When they got to the house the man left,
going east. Mrs Billby told me the man
was her brother from Texas, and that his
name was Bailey l was afterwards at Mrs.
Dobson's, when Mrs. Jennings, a colored
woman, came in, and when | told her Mrs.
Billby had company, she laughed and said If
we knew what she did, we would be sur
prised. She said the man was the one to
whom she had written for Mr.. Billby."
Mrs, Jennings was the next witness called
she too, was a neighbor of the Billbys. She
denied writing letters for Mrs. Billby; said.
however, she had commenced several but
never completed them. did not tell Mrs.
Keeran that was writing letters for Mrs
Billby. She saw Mrs. Billby give Mr. Billby
some medicine When he died there was nc
one present but Mrs. Billby, herself and Mrs
Anderson. The deceased had once told heI
no got married to have a mother for hi:
children.
Mrs Billby. herself, was then put upor
the stand.
She said she had known the deceased about
two years. She had been married three
times before, Mr.. Billby being her fourth
husband Her first husband, Enoch Hill
died in Missouri; the second, Trovolt, died al
Gelena, Kans as, after they had been married
eight years. She lived with her third. An
dres, until last September, when she left hin
and applied for divorce at the last term Of
the District court on the grounds of extreme
cruelty. She has lived at the house of Mr.
Billby since the 10th of last Feb
ruary She said she did not know
that Mr.. Billby had any property
that he was often sick and that she did not
poison him. The medicine he took came frc n
Drs. Terrill & Schultz; she never bought any
in the city. ''She never gave him anything
but cup of tea and some spice. The visitor
to her house was her half brother. l consid
cred my husband in danger the morning he
died. | came to the room the moment he
died He asked me to get him cup of tea
l came in with it. As l came to the door,
saw he was dying and screamed. wen1
for my children the day of the picnic
in a boat, boy ten or twelve years OF ags
rowed for me- got back about o'clock.
I could tell who was with me in the boat il
the evening. did not ask his name. W.
did not 60 out of sight of the lights. | coulc
not tell what kind of looking man lie was
DR.. Whitlock, the attending physician, va
then called. He said he treated Mrs. Billby
for the last stages OF cholera morbu
DR.. E. B. Rentz was also put upon th'
stand "Dr Hindsdale and myself made {
postmortem examination this forenoon. W.
found nc lesion of any organ of the body
except congestion of the stomach. We e1
trected the stomach, but made no chemica
analysis. l am unable to say if the con
gestion was caused by cholera morbus; thl
sometimes causes slight congestion ih'
only way to find if the deceased had beeI
poisoned is to make a chemical analysis
a. the contents of the stomach 1t is not Us
ually the case that the stomach is congestec
,o the extent Of that OF the deceased
Pobert BiIlhy died with cholera morbus i